THE BREADSTUFFS AND PROPRODUCE MARKETS

Otago Witness, Issue 3383, 15 January 1919, Page 13

THE BREADSTUFFS AND PROPRODUCE MARKETS

Friday evening. Th© event of th© week (eays the Australasian of December 21) is th© anouncement that the British Government has released a further 65 vessels, mostly passenger steamers, for the Australian itinerary. Thcso which come from England will transport, rereturned soldiers, and take back butter and meat in their refrigerated chambers, while wool and wheat will be carried between decks Those steamers that com© here in ballast from various parts of the world will carry away %vheat and flour on behalf of the British Government, which has approximately 1,800,000 tons to lift, for which the money was received by growers months ago. The extent to which this traffic will be carried cannot be estimated, and until a clearance is made of produce belonging to Great Britain, the disposal of our unsold grain is problematical. The quantity shifted by these incoming steamers is a welcome relief to our congested warehouses. According to the Trade Commissioner of South Australia in London, this has been one of the best yielding years for wheat in Great Britain for over half a century.' Fortunately the majority of farmers were able to harvest their crops under ideal conditions, so far as weather was concerned. In Surrey yields of from 30 to 45 bushels of wheat per acre were quite common, and potatoes also gave a phenomenal return. The price obtained for home-grown wheat, coupled with the splendid returns from live stock, xnakes farming in England, to-day one of the most profitable occupations. There is no old season's wheat to offer, and millers are working on stocks of Australian. According to reports from Canterbury, Oamaru, Taieri, Milton, and Balclutha, the new season's crops are looking very well, end if the weather becomes a little" rnoro seasonable good yields should result. Round about Middlemarch th© wheat crops are also reported to be showing excellent promise, but reports from further inland state that th© Otago Central yields there are likely to be poor. Prices of millers' lines are as follow: Flour, £ls 10s; bran, £& 10s; pollard, JEB 10s; pearl barley, £25 10s; oatmeal, £29. |

There is but a small shipping inquiry for oats. Owing to the lateness of the season, however, local millers have been forced' to look for further supplies of old season's oats to enable them to meet their orders fo* oatmeal, etc., till the new season's cereal 19 ready. Stocks are light, and few lines can be picked up. The demand by millers ha* caused a slight hardening of the market, ana •5s 8d; ex' store, has been paid for good heavy, ' Gartens, and 5s 6d for B's; with little business passing. Sales of.B grade oats have been mods forward—April to December delivery—at 59 lid, f.0.b./ B.i. . . I" PRODUCE REPORT. The shipping demand for chaff has practi* cally ceased, but there is a, sound looal i» quiry. Any consignments of prime quality are realising £8 10s per ton, sacks extra. Stocks, however, are very short, as several farmers are holding their bid chaff stacks till later in the season, owing to not having had the opportunity or inclination to grow; crops this year for chaffing purposes. Considerable quantities of Auckland-grown potatoes arrived by the Wanaka. The condition was in some instances not too goCd, and mices ranged from Id to 2d per lb. Local"grown potatoes are in good demand, but the supply is fully equal to the inquiry. Prices range up to 8d per lb m the wholesale fruit marts for case lots. Supplies are coming in from Oamaru, the Taien, the Peninsula, and the Forbury. Indications point to a drop in. prices. _ Old season 9 tubers are now practically finished. Both oaten and wheaten straw is m short suDply. Choice porker and baconer pigs' are no* too plentiful. . With the falling off of the holiday demand eggs have been reduced in price. Christchurch rolls and hams are unprocurable. The quotations given are more or less nominal. ' Current wholesale prices are as follow: Fowl Wheat.—New Zealand-grown, 6s 6d. Chaff—Prime oaten sheaf, to £3 10s; good, *° £8 - 1- L «» Oaten straw, £3 5s to £3 10s; wheaten, £3 to £3 ss. ,' ~ Eggs.—Plain, Is 4*d; stamped. Is sd. Butter.—Milled bulk, Is 2Jd to Is 3d por lb; separator pats, Is 2d. Honey, lOd per lb. Pigs.—Baconers, 9d per lb; porkers, 9d. Bacon.—Local rolls, Is BJd; Christchurch rolls, Is -Id; hams, Is 4d; local ham roils, la 4d: FRUIT REPORT. Business has been on the quiet side in the fruit marts during the week, chiefly owing to the absence of supplies of oranges, bananas, and to a less extent of apples. Much better business would have resulted had supplies of these fruits come to hand. A few lines of apricois have arrived from Otago Central. Peaches have been a.little more plentiful. Both these stone fruits have met with a ready sale. Supplies of cherries are about finished for 'the season. The small lots available have brought very good prices. . - . Plums and apricots have arrived from Auckland and Nelson. The fruit, which was landed in good order, brought very high prices. Unfortunately a fair portion of the consignment arrived in bad order. Supplies of tomatoes from Canterbury are not so plentiful, no doubt due to the interval between the growth from the arti-ficially-heated hot houses and that from the sun-heated. Gooseberries are very plentiful. Prices show a weakening tendency. A fair quantity of new onions arrived during the week from Auckland and brought from 4Jd to 7d»*per lb. Further supplies by the Kaitangata and Kaiapoi are expected from Melbourne next week. These should causa the market to weaken considerably. Vegetables of all kinds have been scarce and prices have ruled high. Some nioo lines of peas from Canterbury and North Otago met with a ready sale. Cabbages and cauliflowers have also realised high prices for this time of year. Current wholesale values are as follow: Apples.—Sturmers realised up to 26s 6d; French Crabs, 16s to 18s; Newtown Pippins, 18s to 20s. Cherries. —Is 6d to 2s per lb for choice Central-grown; Waimate-grown, Is Sdl to la 6d. Black -currants, 4Jd on stalk, 5d to Bid cleaned. > Red currants, 5d to 5Jd. Strawberries. —Waimate-grown, Is to Is Ski per pottle; local, to Is 6d per pottle. Hothouse Tomatoes. —Local, to Is 9d per ' lb; Christchurch, Is 4d to Is 6d. Peaches.—Half cases, 5d to Bid; crates, t<J. lOd per lb. Apricots, 5d to 6d. Plums, Bd> to 6d. Cabbages, choice, to 6s dozen. Cauliflowers, prime, 6s to 8s; medium, 3s to 53 per dozen. Parsnips, new season's, Is 6d ttf Is 9d per dozen. Radish, 9d to Is per dozen. Lettuce i Choice, Is 6d; good, to ls{ mediuni, 6d to 9d per dozen. Rhubaarb, ia cases. 8s 9d to 5s per case. Potatoes.—'N ew potatoes, 2fd to 8d; Penin* Bula-grownj Forbury, 2Jd to 2Jd; Auckland), lid to 2d. Cucumbers, 16s to 20s per dozen for large; medium, 12s to ISs. Green peas, 2Jd to 3id. Gooseberries, 2ct to 3d per lb; ripe, 4d tq( 6d per lb.